a second ago, jess, we saw president obama greeting secretary of state john kerry on the tarmac there. the secretary of state arrived in the region before the president. he will be in the region again just after the president leaves. the united states appears to be sending the message that the preside president's trip is just part of the overall goal here. >> reporter: right. so, one of the mixed messages we're getting around this trip is the white house has talked down expectations. we should not expect anything to come of this trip. this is largely not just this trip meaning ramallah, the west bank today, but the overall trip to the middle east is really making good to israel and touching base with the palestinians. but despite the low expectation s, there is still a colonel of hope. the focus will be not so much on the palestinian end, but the israeli end, to see what it would take to bring israelis to the table. kerry will come back and have dinner with a member of the israeli cabinet to see where the israeli comfort level would be and what it would involve for israel to sit down